Aeroplane control



July 16, 1929. D. ca. LILLEY AEROPLANE CONTROL 5 Sheets-Sheet Filed Nov. 25, 1927 gwuemto'c 1941M?! lZZZey July 1929. D. G. LILLEY 1,720,960

AEROPLANE CONTROL Filed-Nov. 25, 1927 :5 Sheets-Sheet 2 gwve'ntoo flmziaZ ZZZZey July 16, 192 11 LILLEY i 7 1,720,960

AEROPLANE CONTROL Filed Nov. 25, 192*! 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 I Patented July 16, 1929.

PATENT OFFICE.

DANIEL LILLEY, OF DENVER, COLORADO.

AEBOPLANE CONTROL.

Application filed November 25, 1927. Serial No. 235,539.

This invention relates to improvements in aeroplanes and has reference more particularly to improvements in the control mechanism.

It is well known that aeroplanes constructed in the usual manner have considerable diificulty in rising from the ground under full load. It is evident that the vertical control elevator which is secured .to

the tail of the plane is of very little, if any, assistance in getting the plane into the air and that it is therefore necessary to impart to the plane such a speed that the reaction between the air and the wing surfaces will raise the plane off from the ground.

After the planes are in the air, the steering is done entirely by means of rudders and elevators secured to the tail of the plane and as this is analogous to steering an auto- 2 mobile by the rear wheels, it is evident that the proper control of an aeroplane is a feat that requires a great amount of experience.

It is an object of this invention to provide aeroplanes with elevators that are secured to the nose of the plane and which can be adjusted by the same mechanism that controls the elevator on the tail of the plane so that at least a portion of the control is effected from the front end, thereby making the steering easier. Another advantage of having elevators near the front is that they can be placed directly behind the propellers and will therefore be subjected to the action of an air current of high velocity that makes them very effective. Elevators of this type hinged so as to be movable about a hon-,

zontal axis are of great help in getting the plane into the air in starting, for reasons that will be hereinafter more fully explained.

lVhen an aeroplane is provided with pontoons that project: below the plane, a considerable distance, .or with any other type of landing gear, the inertia and the resistance offered by .the landing gear when the plane is started tends to tip the nose of theplane downward and prevents the plane from gaining elevation easily. By the simple expedient of providing an elevator across the nose of the plane and adjusting its angular position, it is possible to produce a force that counteracts the resistance and inertia effect of the landing gear and thus make it easier to get into the air.

adjusted so as to get the plane back to its proper elevation. By attaching an elevator to the nose of the plane and operating this in cooperation with the rear elevator, it is possible to quickly overcome this downward pressure and to prevent the drop in elevation as the front elevator working in con-.

junction with the rear elevator produces a torque couple that tends to rotate the plane about a transverse axis passing through its center of gravity.

When a plane is provided with three engines, one is usually located at the very tip of the fuselage and Queen each side, the latter being carried by-the wings. In such planes an auxiliary elevator may be located directly to the rear of each engine. In tandem' planes, such as have been proposed for transoceanic service, the engines are carried by wings on each side of the fuselage and an elevator is provided to the rear of each propeller. An elevator may also be provided near the nose of the fuselage and this may then be of considerable size so as to function as a wing during normal flight.

In order to more clearly describe my in vention, reference will now be had to the accompanying drawings in which the preferred embodiments of the same have been illustrated, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of an aeroplane constructed in accordance with my invention, portions being broken away to betterdisclose the construction;

Fig. 2 is a transverse section taken on line 2-2, Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section taken on line 3-3, Fig. 1, and shows a portion of the control mechanism for the elevators;

Fig. 4 is a section taken on line 4-4, Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a view looking in the direction of arrows 5 5, Fig. 4, and shows the control lever for the elevators located underneath the wings;

Fig. 6 is a view, partly in section, taken on line 6-6, Fig. 4, and shows the control lever for the rudder and for the front and rear elevators;

Fig. 7 is a section taken on line 7-.-'i, Fig. 4;

1 Fig.3;

Fig. 9 is a diagrammatic representation of the rudder control; and

Fig. 10 is a View showing my invention applied to a multiple tandem wing aeroplane. a

In the drawings numeral 1 is the fuselage of an aeroplane and 2 the wing. A propeller 3 is secured to the nose of the fuselage and operated by an engine in the usual man ner. In the plane illustrated, I have shown three propellers which have all been designated by the same reference numeral, two of 8 is a section taken on line 8-8,

these propellers are supported from the wings in the mannerindicated. In the ordinary aeroplanes, a rudder 4 and an elevator 5 are provided at the rear end of the fuselage and these are controlled by a suitable apparatus. As indicated above, it is the object of this invention to provide the aeroplanes with elevators and rudders at the front as well as at the rear, and in Fig. 1 I have shown a rudder 4 that is secured to the tip of the fuselage and also two auxiliary elevators 5 that are also secured to the front end of the fuselage directly behind the propeller. The elevators 5 are hinged to a transverse piece 6 so that they may be pivoted about the axis of the hinge 7. I have also provided mechanism, which will be shortly described, that interconnects the elevators 5 and 5 and the rudders 4: and P so that they will operate together. In the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 1 I have also shown elevators 8 that are located directly behind the propellers which are carried by the wings. These elevators are hinged at 9 to the brackets 10 that extend downwardly from the underside of the wings in the manner shown most clearly in Fig. 8. Secured to the wings to the rear of the elevators 8 are downwardly extending brackets 11 in which the shaft 12 is journailed. Shaft 12 is provided with a plurality of arms 13 whose endsare provided with longitudinal slots 14 for the reception of pins 15 that are connected to the rear edges of the elevators. \Vhen shaft 12 is rotated, the inclination of elevators 8 can be altered to any extent desired between the limits indicated by the full line and the dotted line position, in Fig. 8. I have also indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 8. a con struction in which a plurality of elevators can be employed, if desired. For the pur pose of rotatingshaft 12, I have provided a lever 16, Figs. 1 and 5. one end of which is provided with a pawl 17 that cooperates with notches 18 in the quadrant 19 that is secured to the roof 20 of the fuselage. A lever or handle 21 controls the pawl 17 in the usual manner. The pilot which is so seated that lever 16 is accessible at all times, can adjust the position of elevators 8 by means of lever 16 and keep them in adjusted positionas long as may be desired.

For the purpose of-controlling the elevators 5 and 5 and the rudders 4 and 4, I

' have provided a mechanism which I will now plate 26 of similar shape and size as the part 25 is secured to the shaft by means of bolts 27 in the manner shown in Fig. 7. A lever commonly known as the joy stick and which has been indicated by numeral 28, extends between the parts 25 and 26 and is pivoted to these by means of a bolt. 29. It is evident that lever 28 (an be moved to the right or left, (Fig. 4) about its pivot 29, without rotating the shaft 24, but if the motion is in a plane that crosses shaft 24, the latter will be rotated. Secured to the outer ends of shaft 24 are arms 30. The upper ends of these arms carry. pins 31 that extend through the slots 32 in levers Levers 33 are pivotally attached to the shaft 12 so that they may berotated about the latter. Flexible steel wire cables 34 are secured to the levers 33 at oints equidistant from the axis of shaft 12,

ig. 2. One end of these cables is secured to the T-shaped lever 35. These levers are pivoted at 36 and have a laterally extending arm 37 which isprovided with an elongated slot 38 for the reception of a pin 39that is secured to the rear edge of the elevators 5. The other ends of cables 34 are secured to the ends of the leverlO that is rigidly secured to theelevator 5 in the manner shown in Fig. 3. It is now evident that if lever 28 is moved so as to rotate the shaft 24, that the front and the rear elevators will be moved simultaneously in such a direction that their joint action will tend to rotate the plane about an axis that passes through the center of gravity. It is also evident that the elevating force of the front elevator will be very great in comparison with the area of the elevator as these elevators are located di rectly behind the propeller, and therefore subjected to an air blast of very high velocity. 1

Attention is called at this point to the fact.

that a stationary plane 41 is located directly to the front of elevator 5, Fig. 3. These stationary planes help to stabilize the action of the elevator. Similar stationary members 6 are located to the front of the elevators 5.

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The rudders 4 and 4 areoperated by a sidewise motion of the lever 28. In order to better explain this operation attention will be first called to Fig. 6 from which it will be observed that the lower end of lever 28 is provided with an arcuate slot 42 through which the bar 43 extends. This bar has downwardly projecting pins 44 one of which is located on each side of the lower end of lever 28. WVith this construction lever 28 can be rotated about the axis of shaft 24 without disturbing in the least the position of bar43. But if lever 28 is moved sidewise so that it will rotate about the pivot 29, rod 43 will be moved in'one direction or the other, depending upon the movement of the lever. Referring now more particularly to Fig. 9, it will be observed that the ends of bar 43 are connected to the outer ends of arms 45 of the bell crank levers that are pivoted at 46. The other arms 47 of these bell crank levers are attached to the cables 48. These cables have their rear ends connected at 49 to the ends of the transverse lever 50 which is attached to the rear rudder 4. To the front of the. bell cranksthe cables extend around the pulleys 51 and are attached to the movable end of the'front rudder 4*. If lever 28 is moved so as to bring the lower portion into the dotted line position shown in Fig. 9, the front and rear rudders will be moved to the dotted line position and if the lever is moved in the opposite direction, the rudders will of course be moved in the opposite direction. The motion of the plane towards the right or left is controlled by a corresponding movement of the control lever. While the up and down motion of the plane is controlled by the same lever moving about the axis of shaft 24. As lever 28 can move simultaneously about two rectangularly related axes a compound move- The operator may, at the same time, adj ustthe elevators 5 in a corresponding manner. lVhen the propellers are in operation, the strong air currents thus produced will cooperate with the elevators 8 and 5 and produce a force that tends to raise the front end of the aeroplane from the ground. As these elevating forces are greatly increased by means of the action of the elevators that are located underneath the wings and to the front of the wings, the aeroplane will be raised off of the ground sooner than it would posed for use in transoceanic flights. These aeroplanes differ from the one shown in Fig. 1 principally in this, that they are provided with a plurality of wings arranged in tandem and that each wing is provided with at least two engines and propellers, some of the wings may even be provided with four engines and four propellers like the central wing in Fig. 10. Such aeroplanes may be equipped with elevators analogous to those already described and operated in the same manner. The elevators 8 that are located underneath the wings are preferably mounted so thateach set in each wing may be controlled independently of the set in the other wings so that it is possible to use them to keep the aeroplane on an even keel and to stabilize it during flight, as well as to assist the aeroplane in going through the air.

I desire to call particular attention to the combined front and rear elevators which are connected so as to move in synchronism with each other and which impart to the aeroplane two forces in opposite directions that form a torque. couple whose moment tends to rotate the aeroplane about a horizontal axis passing through its center of gravity. ment can be obtained which will simultane-' In the specification and claims I have referred to an axis passing through the center of gravity. I want it understood, however, that this axis does not necessarily have to pass through the actual center of gravity, but this expression is used in describing the axis about which the plane is rotated during the movement imparted to it by the elevators or the rudders and is believed to coincide quite closely with the center of gravity.

A plane in flight with the wings at such I an angle that strong winds are brought to bear upon theupper surface, results in loss in elevation. Where such winds are s'ufiiciently strong the plane may be forced down rapidly, or at least with considerable loss in elevation before the tail can be maneuvered into a position whereby the propellers can again start the plane upward.

If the engines are speeded up before the plane is in position pointing upwardly, the increased speed will h-zerely force the plane eiti lower. As intimated above, this difficulty can be overcome by the use of a nose elevator and rudder in cooperation with a tail elevator and rudder, thus providing means 1t-o force a plane to be instantly pivotedabout a point known as the center of gravity of the plane. The plane being pivoted on this axis at the will of the pilot so as to cause the winds to be exerted upon the under surface of the wings instead of the top surface, which will immediately enable the propellers to force the plane upward, without any loss in elevation. Such a plane well constructed and amply powered will have little to fear from any ordinary storm conditions. Under ordinary flying conditions, only slight movement of the joy stick should be necessary to properly control the plane, by reason of the cooperative incidence given the nose and tail elevators and rudders, which would leave the pilot still with a wide range of control at his disposal over and above that required for ordinary flying conditions, to be used in any emergency. Even though'the nose elevators and rudder were to be given only very slight incidence, the action of the nose propeller upon them should enable the pilot to control his plane with fine precision. Although the above invention has been described in conmotion with heavier than air machines, it is obvious that this invention can also be used in connection with lighterthan air machines.

In the specification and the claims I employ the term horizontal axis. B this term it is my intention to define an axis that is parallel with the plane of the wings and with the axes about which the elevators are pivoted, and therefore in actual flight. this axis may be inclined with respect to the rear end of the airship, means for simultaneously operating the last named elevator and one of the first named elevators and means foroperating the other elevators independently.

2. An airship having a fuselage, wings and propellers. one propeller located at the front end of the fuselage and one on each side, an elevator located to the rear of each propeller,- an elevator located at the rear end of the fuselage, means for interconnecting the elevators at the front and the rear of the fuselage so that they may be operated together and means for controlling the elevators that are located on the sidesof the fuselage.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

- DANIEL G. LILLEY. 

